LAST week I had planned to spend most of the day out on Redstone Marsh, Stourport.

With the biting, bitter weather and the drab, miserable skies we had been experiencing, I became a little worried that I was in for a most uncomfortable and uninspiring day.

Just to try to plan for the numbers of layers I was going to have to wear, I went onto the Met Office site to see what the following day had in store.

To my surprise and delight it looked as though it was going to be a rather pleasant sunny day, albeit on the chilly side.

The website also had a feature which gave a comparison of the temperature this time last year.

What a contrast.

We were enjoying what looked like a mini heatwave and spring was well in progress.

So with the prospect of the first chance of a warm spring day I set off to Redstone in search of any signs of spring to be seen on the marsh at this time of year.

On the wild flower front there was no colour to be seen, however the first fresh green leaves of spring could be seen poking through the tangle of last year's dead grass.

These were from plants such as angelica, meadow sweet and yellow flag iris.

In the shaded areas around the bases of the trees and hedges, dark gloss-green leaves with the distinctive dark speckles of the cuckoo pint plant, could also be seen in abundance.

The scattered hazel trees in the hedgerows were also in flower. Their flowers are what country folk call "lambs' tails" as, despite being green, they have that general appearance, especially as they seem to shake in the breeze in a similar way to the boisterous way new lambs shake their tails.

The reason these flowers, or catkins, wave so vigorously even in the slightest breeze is that the hazel's flowers rely on the wind to distribute their pollen.

If you watch them closely you will see yellow clouds of millions and millions of pollen grains being released from the flowers with each gust of wind.

Animal-wise, out on the reserve there were even more signs of spring life, with huge numbers of small mammal holes appearing among the tufts of grass and literally thousands of wolf spiders emerging from hibernation and running in what looked like packs, across the marsh.

Circling up above and making quite a noise was a pair of buzzards. It looked like they were bonding and looking for a place to set up a nest.

Who knows - Redstone could be their chosen breeding site this year. Spring is still in its infancy, but I am sure as soon as the weather turns a little warmer things will progress at speed and the bleak winter landscape will, within a very short space of time, suddenly be transformed with spring life.